One child starvation suspect hospitalized, one recently released

Friday

May 31, 2013 at 3:15 AMMay 31, 2013 at 4:48 PM

DOVER — A local woman charged with assaulting a young child and depriving him of food is hospitalized following a recent accident, while the other woman involved in the case was recently released from a hospital.

By Liz Markhlevskayalmark@fosters.com

DOVER — The woman charged with assaulting a young child and depriving him of food is currently hospitalized after a recent vehicle accident.

Peggy Starr, 55, formerly of New Durham, is currently being treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital after an accident that occurred about two weeks ago, said her defense attorney Stephen White. The preliminary pretrial conference for her first-degree assault charge, scheduled for this morning, is still taking place, said Deputy County Attorney Alysia Cassotis.

Starr was indicted by a grand jury in March on a first-degree assault charge, alleging that she, in concert with her daughter Christina Thomas, failed to provide proper nutrition to a child under their care, over the course of several years, causing the young boy's “failure to thrive.” According to the indictment, the child was deprived of proper nutrition between August 2008 and April 2010, in New Durham, when the child was between the ages of 4 and 6.

Starr, now listed in court documents as a Nottingham resident, also has other pending charges in connection to the case involving the young boy. Her second-degree assault charge alleges she struck the boy with a spatula in 2009. She is also facing two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, for allegedly making the boy sit naked in a snowbank, and for allegedly placing the boy naked in a brook, in winter of 2010.

While the preliminary pretrial conference for Starr's first-degree assault charge is scheduled for this morning, no hearing date for her other charges has been scheduled so far. The first-degree assault charge is a Class A felony.

In February, Thomas, 34, currently being held with no bail at Strafford County jail, was found guilty of first-degree assault, for failing to provide proper nutrition to the boy. Her sentencing hearing has been scheduled for July 1. According to court documents, Thomas was admitted to Wentworth Douglas Hospital on April 22 after a suicide attempt at the jail. On Thursday, Cassotis said Thomas had been released from the hospital since being admitted, but would not say how long Thomas remained at the hospital.

Starr, who is currently free on $10,000 personal recognizance bail, is still being treated at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital after the accident, and according to hospital officials, she is in “fair” condition.

White said he believes the accident occurred in the New Durham area, but on Thursday, New Durham police reported they do not have a vehicle accident involving Starr on record.

Cassotis said Thursday that she recently learned about the accident, and how the accident will affect Starr's trial schedule is still uncertain. She said she hopes to learn more information during today's preliminary pretrial conference.

“The accident put a hitch in the get-along here,” said White. “We don't know how long she won't be able to attend the trial.”

On March 29, White filed a motion for a change of venue for Starr's trial, arguing that the publicity of Thomas's trial will make it impossible to draw an impartial jury in the Strafford County. In his motion, White stated that Thomas's three-week trial in February came with extensive coverage from Foster's Daily Democrat and the Manchester Union Leader, and that Starr's photograph had been included numerous times in social media sites, including Facebook. While White had made a motion to hold Starr's trial in a county other than the Strafford County, Judge John Lewis denied White's motion on April 8.

Starr's preliminary pretrial conference will take place at 9 a.m. today, at Strafford County Superior Court.